Elm Shakespeare's back in the gallery with Epstein directing 'The Lover'

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NEW HAVEN -- Alvin Epstein says he'd been "shirking my responsibilities" as a director lately and enjoying the cushy life of an actor -- until Elm Shakespeare Company cajoled him into making his directorial debut with them for "The Lover," coming Thursday to Kehler Liddell Gallery.

Things went so well last year with the presentation of Yazmina Reza's "Art," at the Westville gallery that the company is returning for a run through Feb. 13 that also includes a benefit performance on Feb. 11 that starts with a wine reception at 6:30. Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 8 and 10 p.m. Saturdays and 4 p.m. Sundays.

Said Epstein, tongue-in-cheek, "I haven't directed in recent years, because it's a big responsibility, and I was shirking responsibility" -- this from a man whose responsibilities over his more than 50 years in the industry have included associate artistic director of Yale Repertory Theatre, the Guthrie Theater and founding member of the Berkshire Theatre Festival and American Repertory Theatre, and a lengthy resume as actor, director and cabaret performer on stage (more than 150 productions), screen and television.

But the Harold Pinter one-act, which Elm Shakespeare Artistic Director James Andreassi notes has been "aptly described as an erotic comedy," was just too tempting.

The legendary Epstein will be directing Andreassi and Elm Shakespeare veteran Lisa Bostnar, who has lit up the Edgerton Park stage as Dolly Levi in "The Matchmaker," Gertrude in "Hamlet," Beatrice in "Much Ado About Nothing," Kate in "Taming of the Shrew," and more.

"When acting," Epstein explained, "obviously you're responsible to the director and the production and other actors, but basically you're responsible only to yourself. But, when you're directing, you worry about everything. But this was such a small-scale piece that we're doing. It's very tightly constructed and written with enormous elan and without too many production problems ..."

Epstein and Andreassi met years ago in a production of "The Good Woman of Setzuan" at American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge.

"Then we lost track of each other totally until a couple of summers ago when Jim asked me to be in their production of 'Hamlet' as Polonius, which I did. Then ... I did 'Holiday' and 'The Imaginary Invalid,' so it seemed, I guess, quite natural that he would ask to direct a little something ..."

That little something is a delciious Pinter work for this now-occasional director to sink his teeth into. It's the story of a married couple, played by Andreassi and Bostnar, who, looking to spice up their marriage, start pretending that they are adulterous lovers having an illicit affair.

While the original production directions call for a living room and a bedroom, Epstein and cast are adjusting to their gallery setting, placing the action in the couple's living room, the gallery art becoming part of the set of the upper-middle-class couple's home.

Pinter is Pinter, and this piece is no different. Three directors might mine varying sensibilities from the work. Epstein seems drawn to its humor.

"I'm finding that the play is very funny. It's certainly a comedy, but a comedy about some very substantial real things, but that are viewed through Pinter's special telescope or magnifying glass. It's certainly a play by Pinter. No one else could write it," he said.

He added, "It's a play that has many hidden reverberations. On the surface, it could be either a straight comedy or a straight domestic drama, but it's a mixed brew whereas surprising things happen. It takes many twists and turns that all contribute depth to it. It's not a piece of fluff, it's not a light comedy. It deals with real human impulses and fears and the need to express them."

Epstein compares it to another Pinter one-act "Old Times," which he directed at Williamstown Theatre Festival, noting its same combination of drama and comedy "that was much richer than it first appears when you really apply yourself to it."

Epstein's first instinct in returning to the director's role was that his friends "would want me to do this. And so I thought, my friends want me to do this, we know each other, we've worked together before, we get along, and it looks like it could be fun."